


The playground

by foerfall



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-04-23 01:41:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19141027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foerfall/pseuds/foerfall





	The playground

"Okay, look," Don said. "I'm not the only officer here working with you. Okay? Someone else is coming in, he was with you at the playground. Okay? His name's Danny."

Don turned toward the window and nodded. Danny acknowledged him and turned the handle, slowly pushing the door open.

The victim looked up at him. "I'm Danny," he said gently. "We met at the playground."

"I remember you," she said weakly, looking up at the second officer. "You're an asshole."

Don was overcome by a sudden coughing fit. Danny raised his eyebrows and smiled mildly. "Guilty," he admitted.

The hint of a smile played across Rosie's face, and Don silently thanked God that the kid was whole enough to manage a sense of humor.  
\------------------------------------------

"Alright," Danny said, straddling the extra office chair someone had scared up to accommodate the second officer. "We need to ask you some questions. How do you feel? Are you okay to talk about it?"

A shadow passed across Rosie's face. "I--I'm not sure I remember all of it. Just... Moments?"

"We'll piece it together, Don said gently, looking down at her across his memo book. "That's what we do."

Rosie took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Let's start with the first moments," Danny said. "What were you doing at the park?"

Rosie blinked. "I--summer camp. I was teaching a summer camp for the kids."

"Summer camp? Bit late in the year for that, don't you think?"

"Fall camp," the vic amended.

"Who runs the camp?" Don asked.

"Just me. It's...it's just me and some kids. Preschoolers."

"Just you?"

"It's not, it's not a big deal, nothing official. All the big brothers and sisters just went back to school, and the little kids in the neighborhood felt left out. So we--i--we hang out in the park and do some science experiments."

"How many kids?"

Rosie looked up, as though counting. "Eight or nine?"

"Just you and nine toddlers?"

"I mean, I'm not the only one around. And not all of the kids join in, but they can if they want."

"What kind of experiments?"

"Just simple ones. Like what happens to water on the merry go round, how far can you jump off the swing, stuff like that. It's not really science. Just, you know, getting them to compare results and stuff."

"Okay, I want to hear more about this summer camp, but we're way off topic. You were at the playground with a bunch of kids. Were their parents around?"

"Um, a couple. Most of them work."

"Okay. We're gonna start talking about the rest of the... Incident... Now. Are you ready?"

Rosie nodded.

"Okay, you need a break, you need a minute, you let me know, okay? You been through a lot today, and I don't wanna put you through more than we have to. But anything you can tell us is going to be helpful in the investigation."

"Okay."

"Where were you when the first shots were fired?"

"The merry-go-round. I was pushing the kids, and I heard a gun go off. I didn't know anyone was hit. I pulled two of the kids down behind the merry-go-round with me, and they got down underneath it."

"Which kids?"

"Um, Frankie and Dina."

"You and Frankie and Dina are under the merry go round. Then what happened?"

"I don't know. Frankie was bleeding, his arm. Bleeding a lot. And I was thinking, oh my God, this baby is going to die."

"So what did you do?"

"I grabbed Dina's have and squeezed it around Frankie's--around the wound--and told her to hold on as tight as she could, not to let go for anything, no matter what."

"This is under the merry go round."

"Under, under behind. The kids were partway underneath, I was lying down behind it."

"Were there more shots fired?"

"I don't know. I have no idea."

"So the gunman might still have been actively shooting, you don't know."

"Right."

"And then what did you do?"

"I stood up."  
\------------------

"Hey," her voice followed them, a weak question. Danny and Don glanced at each other, and turned back to look at the victim. 

"What is it," Don asked gently.

"You guys are detectives, right?" Her voice was tremulous, her eyes wide, and dark, and worried.

A smile quirked at Danny's lip. He nodded slightly, spreading his hands open at his hips. "Guilty," he said. 

Rosie looked up at him from the hospital bed, her face pale and troubled. "Then you--did you watch the videos..." Her voice was flat, not a question.

Danny's eyes flickered to Don. This was leading to something, and he wasn't sure she was ready for the answer she was prodding at. Don's chin moved imperceptibly. Be honest.

"We watched the videos," Danny confirmed, carefully watching Rosie's face.

"Did it... Did it happen like I remember?"

Danny nodded, an affirmative shrug pulling at his shoulders. "Mostly."

Rosie broke eye contact. She looked up at the corner of the hospital room ceiling. Her lip quivvered. She looked back at them. Don's brow was furrowed, his face concerned and gentle. Danny watched her carefully, waiting.

She was silent for a moment. Her eyes flickered away, then back. 

"Luis..." she began slowly. Danny closed his eyes for a moment, acknowledging her. "He--he got real mad at the end, didn't he."

"Yeah," Danny said. "He got real mad."

"He was gonna kill me." There was a quiet desperation in her voice. She knew the answer. She just didn't want it to be true.

But Danny wasn't in the business of pleasant lies. "Yes," he said. The 's' on the end--'yes' instead of 'yeah,' was like the slam of a heavy door. 

Rosie seemed to deflate. Her shoulders slumped and her eyes fell closed. Her breath hitched in her chest.

Danny looked at the vic. She was what, nineteen? Just a kid. Someone had just tried to kill her. That was a lot for anyone to handle.

No one said anything for a minute. 

Then, quietly: "thanks for saving me." Her voice sounded tinny and small, and the room suddenly seemed very, very large. She lay quiet and still.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey!" The detective's voice broke the silence she had built up around herself. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Hey!" Danny insisted. "Look at me. Hey! Look at me."

Rosie looked at him.

"I'm a cop. It's my job."

_-----------------------------


End file.
